Ultimaker 2 vs Ultimaker 1

[greens83 5]

Ive just seen the ultimaker 2 has been released and read the info. My question is does the ultimaker 2 produce better quality prints than the ultimaker 1 ? I can see the heated bed is a big plus, but are the other components used enabling better prints ?

 

[gr5 2,172]

UM claims the UM2 is "more reliable" which is very believable as their electronics should be more reliable (and more).

The Z height movement should be more stable and consistent allowing smaller stepping but the UM1 has amazing Z stepping ability.

I think you are going to have to wait for an answer until after many people have done many tests.

The quality of a stock UM1 is very high and personally I feel the biggest improvement in quality (fine details) would be with a smaller nozzle size which you can only do on the UM1 right now.

Having said that, the UM2 is better in many ways even if resulting print quality is not much better.

 

[pepsicola 0]

Hey

I would say that the print quality of the UM2 is better than the UM1. Also, from my experience, the UM2 is more reliable and easier to use. I seem to have had fewer failed prints with the UM2 (though that could just be me / I had a dodgy UM1).

Either way, if you get a UM1 or a UM2, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

 

[greens83 5]

Thanks for the replies, I have a UM1 and was wondering about getting a UM2, I think Ill wait and see If better print quality is reported as that's what I am most interested in, although the heated bed would be nice.

 

[illuminarti 18]

Based on a couple of days working with UM2's at MakerFaire in NY, I do think it offers better print quality for detailed parts - primarily because of improved retraction handling. For instance test parts like http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451 worked straight off the print bed, with no clean up needed, whereas the ones printed on UM1's needed a lot of clean up work, and even then weren't terribly successful.

 

[peter-parnes 0]

Actually the gear bearing has worked for me straight of the bead from an UM1 several times without any cleaning needed. I have printed it with a bit bigger gap between the moving parts though (0.25-0.3).

For me the biggest benefit of the UM2 is the heated bed and the lower noise level.

 

[greens83 5]

Any more opinions on this subject now the UM2 has been out a bit longer ?

 

[peter-parnes 0]

I find the UM2 to be very reliable. I have lugged it around on several fairs, lectures etc and it just works. The heated bed is awesome. The only thing I feel is a problem is that the smaller fans on the UM2 do not appear to cool as good on the bigger ones on the UM1.

If you can afford it, go for the UM2. If not then, the price of the UM1-kit is a very good deal right now.